"Weird, that sounds just like"...

"a snow plow barreling down the street", "huh, I better get out of bed and check",...
Sure enough-we had snow this morning!
When I went to bed last night at 11:30 it was still green,
but under the darkness of night a blanket of snow was delivered for morning's light.
It was such a nice little surprise.
The first snow of the year is always nice and exciting.
(seeing snow on the ground somehow justifies all the cold you've had to endure up until that point-I mean if it's going to be freezing cold we might as well have snow to make it 'look' like winter, because it already feels like winter.)
I marveled with Sydaleigh as we looked out the window together, turned on some Trans Siberian Orchestra to further put us in the Christmas mood, danced in the kitchen with girls after breakfast, and just took in my first Christmas moment of the season.

On our own...

Isaak left for Texas this morning.
With all this sickness running rampant in our home the past week I hardly had time to mentally prepare for him leaving.
But, can't dodge that bullet anymore,
he's gone until almost Christmas,
and it's just me and the girls.
We haven't done a TDY in almost two years.
And even then, it was in route to Nebraska so I was lucky enough to be able to stay with my mom so she could help out with Sydaleigh.
This time it will be a tad different.
I have two kids now,
we're on our own,
there will be no one to come home to me at the end of the day,
no helping hands to take over when I'm at my wit's end,
just us.
And even though it's not fine,
I know have very capable hands of my own,
God equipped me with all that I need to survive motherhood solo for the next bit,
and it will be a fruitful time of learning to rely on Him more,
not leaning on my own strength,
not leaning on my own patience,
but letting Him wash me in His.
So ready or not...here I go....

to better days

I'm gonna let myself cry for ten seconds...
...those tears are for the fact that I'm spending Thanksgiving alone...
...away from family...
...away from friends...
...able to only indulge in saltine crackers and water...

...now...
I'm gonna stop crying,
suck it up,
tell myself that sometimes life stinks,
it doesn't always turn out the way you hoped,
and enjoy the only conversation available to me at the moment-Marvelly's, in all her magnificent grunting glory,
and raise my saltine in a toast,
to a better spent Thanksgiving next year.

I didn't want to do that anyway

Instead of thinking of all the things I'm not getting a chance to do with my coveted nap time this afternoon ( sanitize the house, laundry, hang Christmas decorations, I'm stopping there)...
I'm going to redirect my attention to what I am able to do right now...
-spend oodles of time snuggling with Marvelly
-embrace the fact that she wants to sleep on me (because one day soon she is going to be almost three and won't need me to fall asleep on me anymore)
-gaze upon her sleeping face
-smell her lavender hair
-hold her tiny hands
-rub her baby soft back
-lift up my heart's prayers for her
-daydream
-and thoroughly enjoy the blissfulness of this time

..."11:20pm, boy it's getting late, and she's not even acting tired"...

..."wow, it's midnight already, what is the deal with her tonight?"...

..."1:00am, shoot Marvelly has a fever again, no wonder she's not sleeping"...

..."geesh, 2:00am rolled around fast"...

..."why won't you sleep for more than three minutes at a time without waking up?"...

..."ugh, is the clock right, it can't be after 3:00am"...

..."is this real or I am hallucinating?"..."nope, definitely real, not dreaming"...

..."huh! it's been five minutes and she's still sleeping, maybe she's finally out...crap! thought too soon"...

..."you're tired but you're reading it right, it's definitely 4:00am"...

..."thank you God that Isaak finally took over for me"...

..."two hours of sleep is better than none"............................

Saturday and Sunday

Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Rest is coming....it won't be long now...

Friday night, as soon as we got home from the ER with Sydaleigh, Marvelly developed a fever.
And it lasted all through the night.
She couldn't sleep. She couldn't breathe. Cried to cough. Was totally miserable.
Sydaleigh however slept soundly. Never woke once. Her fever stayed at bay and she was able to get a good night's rest.

Come morning light Marvelly had finally fallen asleep in our bed.
But just when you think it's your turn to get in on the whole sleep thing, I hear Sydaleigh playing with the princesses in her bed and calling me to join her.
Yup, she's feeling better.
Thank goodness one of them is.
Better get up quick before she wakes the baby.
But I didn't have to worry about Marvelly being woken up by Sydaleigh, her inability to breathe did that for her.
Called the base 'acute care' clinic.
They couldn't help her.
Took Marvi to a local urgent care.
They wouldn't help her.
By 4:00 in the afternoon Marvi was so bad I had no choice but to go back to the ER.
And you know what....they did help her.
Big dose of Tylenol to bring her fever down, a breathing treatment, two shots of steroids, lots of ooh's and ahh's over how darn cute she is (even when sick), a little teddy bear to take home and we were in much better shape.
Praise God for good doctors who actually care.
Marvelly was so worn out she slept soundly straight through the night. Never woke. Never coughed. Nothing. Out.
Sydaleigh on the other hand didn't fare so well last night.
She woke at 3am burning up- fever came back with vengeance on that girl.
She nestled down in our bed to watch Veggie Tales, but then started complaining that she had a stomach ache, and sure enough, she got sick while Isaak was holding her.
She had a fever for the first half of the day today but woke up from nap nice and cool.
And Marvelly seems to be making a comeback-talking, flapping her arms all around, being a baby.
I was about to say that it looks like tonight is our night for a good night's sleep for all....
but Marvelly just woke up...it's 10:30pm...
...Isaak is in her room trying to put her back to sleep...
...not sure if it's going to work....
...I'm really tired.....
...want my girls to get better....
...praying God washes them in strength tonight and they wake up healthy and renewed....

....until tomorrow....

Croup is ugly

Oye.
Not the way I wanted to start our weekend that's for sure.
Sydaleigh and Marvelly both woke up this morning with a slightly horse sounding cough.
Okay. No biggie. Not acting sick. Cough's and runny noses are just a thing around here.
(except the horse part-I was keeping my eye on that)
Nap time rolls around. Marvelly's tired, but fine. Sydaleigh seems to be getting worse.
Wake up from naps. Marvelly still seems fine. Sydaleigh is definitely not.
She walks downstairs crying-coughing like a seal, she is gasping for air, can't breathe, throws up, still can't breathe, throws up some more, gasping for air, finally calms down and is able to take some breaths.
(I was panicking on the inside just a little bit-it's not an easy thing watching your kid not be able to breathe)
So I left the puke on the floor-
Grabbed coats, shoes, bag, keys, both girls, and made a bee line for the emergency room.
They shoved a tube in Sydaleigh's nose, made her eat a dose of steroids, take a chest x-ray, to tell us that she contracted a nasty bout of croup.
And it's highly contagious.
And when we got home Marvelly had a fever too.
We have windows cracked, humidifiers blaring, tylenol in bellies to keep the fevers at bay, both girls elevated to breathe somewhat easier, and hopefully better feeling girls in the morning.
I pray.
I was really hoping we wouldn't get hit as hard this winter with sickness as we did last year.
At least last year we didn't get sick until after Christmas.
We haven't even made it to Thanksgiving yet.
Can only imagine what the rest of the season has in store.

"Ugh, that did not taste good."

You know that stage you're in when you first get married, when everything is nice and happy. You're still looking out for the other person's feelings.
You hold back a little.
It's new.
Well, me and Isaak have long past that stage.

A few months into our marriage, we were living in Texas, I decided to make something new.
I wasn't very good in the kitchen, didn't know how to cook really, and I decided to make this Cheeseburger Pie thing.
Trust me, it wasn't as good as it sounds. :)
But Isaak ate it. He even brought the left overs to work with him the following day.
Because we were newly married, I didn't find out till a long time after I fed that to Isaak, that he didn't like it so much.
But, he was still polite, and asked nicely if I wouldn't make that anymore.
That was number one in the 'never make that again' list.
Number two on that list appeared about a year ago when I fed the family rice noodles for our Chinese night.
Poor Isaak, he tried to eat them, nearly finished his whole plate too, but finally had to stop, I think he said he was full, and then told me later he didn't like them.
Last night I hit number three.
I really do love trying out new recipes as I stated above and for the most part, they're a hit.
And I've never gone wrong with a Pampered Chef recipe before.
So I ventured to make this Confetti Egg Strata-because it looked really good.
I like eggs.
Isaak likes eggs.
Not to mention the bread, cheese, peppers, mushrooms, and onions.
How could you go wrong?
It took an hour and 15 minutes to cook, turned out really nice looking too; Isaak was excited because he said it smelt like omelets, and we both likes omelets.

looks good huh.

Well, it wasn't.
It tasted like wet sponge to be exact. (must have been the bread/egg combo)
I ate two bites and couldn't stomach anymore.
I looked at Isaak and said, " I can't eat this, it's terrible."
Isaak looked at me and replied, "yeah, it is pretty bad, lets have some cereal."
Oh, we've come a long way since Texas.
Honesty, gotta love it.

My birthday day

Of all the things I wanted for my birthday this year, the Lord gave me what I needed most...joy and peace.
I got an early birthday treat from Isaak in the form of taking the girls out shopping for me the day before (Tuesday night) and it was such a nice, needed, little hour long break for me.
I got to cook dinner in the kitchen all by myself, while worship music blasted, and then I got to talk to my mom on the phone about cool things that have been on both our hearts lately.
Wednesday's weather was a present in itself.
We had a rare day here in the 50's with complete sunshine, so I took advantage of what I always think is going to be the last nice day we'll see till Spring, and I took the girls out for a walk, then down to the park to swing, slide, play in the sand with no shoes, and bask in the sunshine.
I left the camera at home-to not let myself by fueled by my endless desire to photograph everything, and I just let myself take in the joy of what that morning brought us.
I kissed the clock goodbye.
The girls decided when it was time to go home today.
I watched Marvelly grasp the sand between her tiniest fingers and smile at the delight that it was bringing her.
I watched Sydaleigh build a sand castle and stick a little leaf in the top for a flag and then share the sand with Marvelly so that she could help too.
When we returned home Isaak was waiting.
He brought Sydaleigh upstairs to help wrap my presents and then we sat on the floor and opened them together.
I told Isaak that the only presents I wanted was the ones that the girls picked out for me.
I didn't care if that meant a pencil, or a stick of gum.
I got tube socks.
And not just any tube socks, pink ones!
They're actually pretty nice. It gets stinkin' cold here so those will come in handy.
My mom used to wear knee socks all the time while we were kids. I remember coming in the kitchen every morning to eat breakfast, and there was my mom, in her bathrobe and tube socks.
Guess that will be me now too.
Oh, I forgot, Sydaleigh also got me Nutty Bars. Not sure if she picked those out for me, or for her, but I heard her from upstairs saying she wanted to open presents now so she could have a candy (Nutty Bar). So we enjoyed those too, right before lunch. :)
After naps we ventured back outside so I could finish racking up the leaves.
I love being outside. Always have. It brings me peace being among nature.
The evening brought dinner, cake, Veggie Tales, belly farts, romping around, and a goodnight had by all.
It was joy and it was peace. Just what I wanted.

(Sydaleigh reading to Marvelly-moments like this touch my heart)

thoughts I've been pondering lately...

...me and Isaak are forever going back and forth on the idea of having another baby-"are we done yet" "if we did, when would you want to"-back and forth-back and forth. I haven't had any peace, it's been consuming my thoughts, which that in itself is odd for me. Even though after Sydaleigh was born, we knew we wanted to have another child, I still didn't think about having another child until she was 16 months or so. I haven't been able to put this thought to rest since Marvelly was born. I can't shake thinking about it. I try to tell myself to just "let it go" "don't dwell" but I feel like God won't let me let it go. And even more interesting is that Isaak seems to be giving it a lot of thought as well. For someone who was dead set on not having any more kids-he sure does talk about it- a lot. Me and Isaak were talking about this whole thing again yesterday and out of Isaak's mouth comes the subject of adoption. I've thought about adoption before-but never with any real seriousness, usually just in passing. But when me and Isaak started discussing this issue further I could feel God beginning to open my mind up to this possibility. And Isaak's.

...it's also getting close to the holidays, and with the holidays comes the whole "how can I help" "who can I help" "what can I do to make a difference in somebody's life this holiday season" thinking. I don't want that to be my thought process only when the holidays roll around. Since moving to Nebraska God has been challenging me, molding me, opening my eyes to His heart and for me it's not just about "helping in the holiday's" anymore. But, like many, I want to do more. But do what is the qustion. I feel like I've yet to find my passion when it comes to "the world". I know what my passion used to be, still is actually, but is no longer a reality and that is missions. I grew a heart for mission work back at my very first church is Michigan, Faith Center Church. I knew at the ripe age of ten or so that going off to work and witness is foreign lands was something that I wanted to do. It wasn't until I was 21 that God took what had only been a dream of mine and brought it into fruition. But that's also where is ended. Isaak didn't have a heart for mission work. We didn't share the same passion-despite going together to Peru. It's not just about me anymore. It's not all about what I want and what I think is important. I'm not saying that when you get married you have to see eye to eye on everything under the sun-but when it comes to the big stuff-well, God isn't going to lead us in two seperate directions. I still pray that one day Isaak will grow a heart for this, but for now, that is not my reality. So I'm searching for what is not only my reality, passion, heart for serving the Lord and meeting the needs of those He loves-but Isaak's as well. So that as a family, we can stand united, in the same passion, teaming up to help in an area that both of us have a heart for...

...pondering further, I think even more important than the issue of whether we do or do not add to our family in the furture, whether we feed the hungry, do mission work, raise awarness for cruelty to women around the world- is that no matter what desicion we come to, God is leading both of us in the same direction. He is going to give both of us clarity, a clear sense of what direction to take, and we'll both be on the same page-no matter what that page says....

Sisters

Everybody poops

*Caution! If you have a sensitive gag reflex you may want to stop reading here.*

Marvelly has a thing for pooping sitting down-like this...

...because she likes to go to the bathroom in a sitting position, the poop has no where to go but back and out-like this...

....because she opts for going to the bathroom in a sitting down position-the poop explodes out the back, gets all over her clothes, herself, the floor occasionally, which then leads me to have to strip her down-like this...

...this is what I get for having such dream babies in every other area-naaaasty poopers!!

Did you hear that world?!

Laying in bed this morning, Marvelly just gets done eating and Isaak picks her up to burp her...

"Ya know Isaak," I said, " Marvelly is almost 9 months old, you don't need to keep burping her."

"So." Isaak said, continuing to burp her.

" She will work the burps out eventually..."

"So," Isaak once again replied.

Then he looks at me and says, " she's never growing up."

Well, alrighty then! I guess that settles it!
Marvelly, your Daddy is never going to stop burping you because you will always be the baby.

recycle much?

I'm getting crafty!
These are a few fun things I've made lately in an effort to
reuse more of what I already have, and throw away a little less.

Cereal organizer
We go through cereal fast in our home so I started making use of all the empty boxes and turning them into desktop organizers. I use the large 18oz Cheerios boxes because they are big enough to hold folders and larger items. Just use scissors to cut box and wrap it with any decorative paper. Secure the paper with adhesive or tape, and voila!


(left) Baby food jars are great for storing little things like buttons and other odds and ends.
(right) got this idea from another blog called Blissfully Domestic. You take your empty peanut butter containers, drill a small hole in top and side, thread ribbon through the holes and secure with a knot. You won't lose the lid and you have a cute way to store things like crayons, toys, and other small miscellaneous items.

(left) Formula Can: I fancied up this formula can with a hot glue gun and ribbon. It sits under my sink housing my extra scrubbies, sponges, and paint brushes.
(right) This sailboat was made out of the formula can's lid. You simply cut some decorative paper into a right triangle, punch three holes in the side, feed a straw through the holes, and attach the sail to the lid with playdoh. It really floats and is a fun project for kids to make and then play with.

The possibilities are endless!

Minneapolis

I know I've been MIA for a week but here is why...

We decided on Sunday that we were gonna head up to Minneapolis for a few days, seen as how Isaak had through Tuesday off (thanks to Veteran's Day), and we had nothing else going on to keep us home. (we didn't actually decide on Sunday that we were leaving Sunday, we planned this a few more days in advance-we're not that spontaneous).

(Minneapolis, MN)

The drive up was a breeze, it took a little under six hours which is really not bad for a little weekend trip. And I just have to note that gas is crazy cheap right now! It hasn't been this low since our first year in Calirfornia- I was so excited I had to take a picture at the gas station while we filled up (in Iowa we saw it as low as $1.77)

We stayed right across the street from the Mall of America, which was super convenient, but we didn't realize until night fell, and we were lying in bed, that we were also right next to an airport (not so convenient). It was kind of hard to miss with all the planes flying over head all night long. (just for the record, I'm well aware that I live on a Air Force base and we have planes flying everywhere all the time-but for some reason this was much louder and more annoying).
Moving on....

The Mall of America was insane. I have to say that it was actually too big for me, and Isaak. I know, how can a mall be too big! Crazy right? This one was. Don't get me wrong, it was definitely fun for a visit, but I wouldn't be able to handle it if that was the only mall in my area to go to and I had to do all my shopping there. We mosied around there for a bit on Sunday evening, took Sydaleigh on the carousel ride in the amusement park (an actual amusement park in the center of the mall-like I said, the place was just huge), and then we ate dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe. They even have an aquarium inside the mall too, but we figured why waste money paying to see fish when we can eat at the Rain Forest Cafe and look at them for free (watching the fish were free-eating there was definitely not). We spoiled ourselves and got their biggest dessert called The Sparkling Volcano.

$13-and worth every penny!

(bad picture sorry-I actually had to google for a picture b/c I didn't have my camera with me,or so I thought, it turned out it was just stuffed in the bottom of my bag)

We went back on Monday morning right when the mall opened and took Sydaleigh on a bunch more rides. Some kind hearted woman walked right up to us and gave us a free wristband for the day to get on all the rides for free. (the amusement park ain't cheap-so that was really such an unexpected blessing!) And since it was Monday it was completely empty and we didn't have to do any waiting for the rides. Saweeet.

the Nickelodean theme park


Lego land
(dinosaurs actually made out of legos)

carousel and school bus ride....

the train that Sydaleigh rode all by herself....
(we were the only people on all the rides that morning with the
exception of the car one to follow)

ya think it's going to be a nice little kiddie ride-and then all of a sudden they start wippin' you around-we had a ball though....

...and last but not least came the log ride (Isaak's idea -which is why he went down with Sydaleigh)....

getting in,waving from the top

going down
(I was so mad b/c I took the picture a split second too early and I only got the top of the log)
luckily-the ride had a camera and took a picture for me
(only cost $10!)
not sure if that is fear or exhilaration


back at the hotel we swam...


and then watched a movie and ate popcorn in cool popcorn containers

.....stopped to see some historical sites...

The Stone Arch Bridge
(built in 1883, a former railroad bridge and the only stone arch bridge to be built across the Mississippi River)

ruins of the Gold Medal Flour mill

we just happen to stumble upon a national cemetery while we were driving back to the hotel Monday night so we stopped and paid tribute on Tuesday (Veteran's Day) before we left

I've never been to a National Cemetery before, but it was absolutely amazing, the marble stone heads went on forever, as far as the eye could see in every direction, men and woman who served our country in all the wars dating back to WWI

Isaak wanted to find just one soldier who had served in Iraq

....amazingly, in the sea of white he actually found one,
a kid just a few months younger than Isaak...

very humbling, and great way to end our trip.

and then on the way home (on the way to MN too) we drove past all these cool wind turbines. I'd never seen one except in pictures-these too went on as far as the eye could see in places in Iowa-they are massive and really spectacular to look at.
(this was the best picture I could get going 80mph and through the rainy window)
they really are a sight though

The trip was great-it's always nice to come home, but we're gonna try to head back in the summer, when it's warmer, and see a bit more.